Live spectator sporting events have been a significant source of entertainment for much of modern human civilization. Most live sporting events take place at a venue, arena, field, or stadium that provides seating or other designated area from which spectators can view the live sporting event. As an in-stadium spectator, a person can fulfill vicariously a desire for athletic achievement, project a public image of team allegiance, and find connection to others with shared allegiance. Today, many organizations, schools, universities, sports leagues, teams, and stadium operators derive significant revenue from persons willing to pay money to be an in-stadium spectator of a live sporting event and from associated in-stadium concessions and on-site merchandise sales.
At the same time, the increasing quality and availability of television and Internet broadcasting of sporting events, coupled with the wide-availability of in-home high-definition television sets and broadband Internet connectivity, has made it possible to view sporting events live from within the home with a quality viewing experience. In some cases, viewers may prefer the in-home experience to the in-stadium experience because of enhanced experiences that may be available in the home but not in the stadium.
For example, a viewer at home using a digital video recording (DVR) device may be able to replay a play during the sporting event multiple times and then subsequently catch up with live action of the sporting event as broadcast to the viewer's DVR device. Typically, an in-stadium spectator can consume replays only from an in-stadium Jumbotron or other in-stadium television that the spectator has no control over. If the spectator has a mobile computing device such as a smart phone, the spectator may attempt to connect to the Internet via a local wireless or cellular network in order to download and view a replay at the mobile device.
As another example, a viewer at home may access Internet web sites that provide supplemental material to accompany viewing the sporting event on television. Such supplemental material may include game statistics and Internet chat room comments, for example.
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.